Connecticut Sun: Playing for Good

Connecticut Sun: Playing for Good

By Alex Dueben

“I think that [the WNBA] is probably as player-led as any professional league can be,” Jen Rizzotti said in a recent conversation with Connecticut Voice. A member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, Rizzotti spent years playing professionally and two decades coaching at the University of Hartford and George Washington University, but for many, the Connecticut native will always be remembered for her years at UConn, which included the team’s first championship. Since 2021, Rizzotti has been President of Connecticut Sun.

“Our players are from everywhere, and players’ opinions across the league can become a national discussion,” Rizzotti said. “What has been interesting for us is we’ve caught the attention of state employees and state politicians who have wanted to collaborate with us on messaging that’s important. I think because it’s a small state, we’ve captured the attention of a lot of people and a lot of fans. It feels like we can actually make a difference, rather than just having an opinion,” Rizotti said citing projects in recent years with the Governor and Attorney General around gun violence prevention and discrimination.

“I just feel like the conversations have been started easier and the support has been there because we can capture the attention of a lot of people in such a small area,” Rizzotti said. “I think the WNBA used to just be a professional basketball league and now the WNBA is standing for so much more. That has been much more prevalent in the last five years since COVID, since the Black Lives Matter movement, and since the players all got together and decided that they were going to use their voice for good.”

For the former player and coach, that focus from the top of the organization down is one of the roles she believes is key. “The role of my staff and me is really important—one  to creating a very safe and inclusive space for our players and our front office staff. I think visibly showing our players that there are a lot of people behind the scenes working for them that also look like them and represent them…and them seeing the work that we’re doing in the community,” Rizzotti added. “They can see that these social justice issues are important to us. Standing for the women of the WNBA is important to us. Working to give back to underprivileged communities is important to us.

“I think it’s important for the women that are thinking about coming to Connecticut as a free agent or that are getting drafted into our organization feel safe and feel comfortable and feel empowered to make a difference because that’s the work that we’re doing on a regular basis.”

Rizzotti may always be known in the state for her time at UConn, but she admits that’s one of the ways that she can be of help. “One of the positives of me coming back to take on this role is it brings an immediate attention to the franchise in a way that wasn’t there before, right? Regardless of whether or not I do a good job as a team president, I can publicly bring attention to the work that our organization is doing,” Rizzotti said, mentioning that the same is true of the team’s new General Manager, the former UConn player Morgan Tuck.

“The common denominator for both of us is that we came from a program where doing things the right way, and winning the right way, was a focal point. It wasn’t win at all costs. It was about how we treated people. It was about how we worked as a team and collaborated and had a selfless mindset. It was about having a growth mindset that we didn’t know everything and that we were willing to be pushed to our limit and driven to be great,” Rizzotti said. “A lot of those characteristics really translated to success in the front office for both of us.”

Before becoming the General Manager, Tuck spent years running the Sun’s Community Department, an experience she described as eye-opening. “Obviously people do a ton of great work in the community, but when you’re seeing people every day where this is what they have dedicated themselves to, to me, it just felt like, we have to we have to find a way to get involved,” Tuck said. 

“Part of what the team can do is connecting the players to the community and letting them know what’s happening and what they can do and what they might be interested in. When you want people to have buy-in, you explain what you’re doing, but you also try to take in their interests and their passions and try to weave that into what we’re doing,” Tuck said. “You don’t want to have players feel like they can only talk about things when it’s in the news or when it’s more pressing.”

“We’re not going to make them do anything they don’t want to do. And also going, okay, this is what you’re passionate about? Here’s an organization that really focuses on it. How do we connect them? How can you get involved? How can you amplify what they’re doing? We try to get creative. But at the end of the day, we always try to make sure that it is supporting what our players want to do.”

Tuck admits that this is happening at a time when more people than ever are focused on women’s basketball, which she wouldn’t trade. But also, that noise can’t distract form the bigger job. “We’ve put a big emphasis on giving back to the community, because obviously we want our communities to support us. So, we always felt like we have to support them, too.”

“I just hope throughout my job in this position that I may always have a lot going on and I’m not as available as I was when I was working in the community, but that I never lose that,” Tuck said. “That thought process is: you can have a positive impact, no matter how big or small. I want to be remembered as someone who made a positive impact, not just because I played basketball, but that I used the attention or the platform to have a positive impact on others.”

Rizzotti echoed the sentiment. “It’s almost an unwritten job responsibility, right?”

“That you’re consistently conscious of the impact that you’re making on your players’ lives, on your coaches’ lives, on the front office staff, on the Mohegan community, the New London County community, all the way throughout the state, and all the way throughout the country when it comes to WNBA fans,” Rizzotti said. “We understand the responsibility we have in creating an impact and a space where we can be really proud of. It is something that’s always on our minds. I think that what makes being in the WNBA right now really special is that we really can be a vehicle for change.”